Many images of the Black Madonna still exist today. Ean Begg reports the existence at one
time or another of 450, mostly in Europe, and Marie Durand-LeFebvre reported on 272, mostly in
France. Following are listed those images of the Black Madonna which according to reports still
exist, are still black and can still be seen. Many more are found in the literature but some were
destroyed during the French Revolution and religious wars, some have disappeared or are in
private collections, a few have been lightened or repainted and are no longer black and still others
are copies of the more famous Black Madonnas such as those of Le Puy or Guadalupe.
They are
not included in this list.

Those which follow generally have their origins in the middle ages or earlier. Sometimes an
ancient Black Virgin is destroyed and replaced by another, and these are included if they also are
old. Modern versions and recent copies or statues are not included, with the exception of the
Black Madonna at St. Gervazy, a copy from the Louvre museum workshops.

A few are included because several sources indicate they are Black Madonnas, even when a
local official claims they are not Black Madonnas.

Most of the Black Madonnas are found in churches, chapels and sanctuaries.
A few are in
museums. Most are sculpted, usually out of wood, sometimes from stone and one was cast in
lead. Some are paintings, most of them attributed to St. Luke. A few are icons and several are
frescoes.

The majority of the Black Madonnas listed are found in France - perhaps because much of the
earliest research was French. More recently additional Italian and Spanish Black Madonnas have
been identified by several authors.

This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute,
Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by
Vincenzina Krymow
, was last modified
Monday, 04/18/2011 15:55:16 EDT
by
Ramya Jairam
. Please send any comments to jroten1@udayton.edu.